Biology of Reproduction, Vol 13, 490-493, Copyright © 1975 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

Testosterone Synthesis in the Bovine Corpus Luteum

¹ Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853

Corpora lutea removed from four Holstein heifers at the 12th day of the estrous cycle were sliced and incubated in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer at 37°C for 2 h. Samples were analysed for testosterone and progesterone by radioimmunoassays following separation of steroids by column chromatography. Incubation alone increased testosterone from a mean of 2.65 to 6.60 ng/g of tissue (P<0.05). Additions of LH, arachidonic acid and PGF₂ all caused further increases in testosterone synthesis to 9.18 (P<0.01), 10.12 (P<0.05) and 10.49 (P<0.05), respectively. Progesterone synthesis was significantly stimulated by LH and PGF₂ (P<0.01 and <0.05, respectively). Stimulation of progesterone synthesis due to addition of arachidonic acid (14.6 µg/g) was not statistically significant (P>O.05). These results show that bovine corpora lutea at the 12th day of the estrous cycle are capable of producing testosterone and that LH, PGF₂ and arachidonic acid significantly stimulate testosterone synthesis by bovine luteal tissue in vitro.